Grand Trunk Western, MI, ’82-’84

We’ve added a new gallery to Laughing Frog ImagesGrand Trunk Western in eastern Michigan, 1982-1984.

The Grand Trunk Western in eastern Michigan was a natural side trip to the pursuits of the Port Huron and Detroit from 1982 to 1984.

Their Tunnel Yard office was directly across the Pere Marquette and Grand Trunk Western mains from the PH&D office.

Everything in and out of Port Huron (PH&D, PM (as the ex-PM/C&O/Chessie System was known, and the Trunk) went by or near Tappan Tower at the West end of the yard.

The Trunk had a regular run-through freight with the Milwaukee Road, so you could see Milwaukee power in Port Huron.  The assimilation of the Detroit Toledo and Ironton was taking place during this time, as was the assimilation of the Detroit and Toledo Shore Line.  Assimilation meant variety, and also lament.  There were ex-Rock Island GP38-2’s running around in patched Rock Island paint.  There was variety…

The Tunnel Yard engine facility was wide open.  Switchers and Geeps lay in wait.  One of the shades of GT blue was the correct one!  And, there were still some units running around in GT black.

1983_07_03_GTW_030 adj

Detroit Toledo and Ironton’s Flat Rock Yard was an easy diversion off of I-75 between Toledo and Detroit.

And, back then, in a galaxy far far away in a time long ago, as long as you checked in, stayed off of the tracks and equipment, and didn’t do anything stupid, you could take your pictures in peace.

So, it was easy.

But… the PH&D was the main attraction, and easy shooting of the Trunk didn’t always mean that everything was always in the best light. I’ve tried to make the images as close to perfect as I can, but in some cases, they’re dark below the frame.  I debated whether or not to include some of them – but I decided to include them, as a dark underframe on a GTW unit is better than no GTW unit at all.

That said, I captured a reasonable representation of the GTW in eastern Michigan in that time frame.  This gallery will likely appeal to model railroaders as well as the ferroequinologists out there.

Enjoy!

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